Values-Based Conflict Resolution

Oregon Alliance of Children and Families

June 19, 2015

Dennis Morrow, MAEd, MBA

(503) 542-4607

dmorrow@janusyouth.org

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Dennis L. Morrow

Dennis Morrow, M.A.Ed., MBA, has been the Executive Director of Janus Youth

Programs, Inc. since 1980. The agency has a $9 million budget, employs a staff of 250

in Oregon and Southwest Washington and provides a wide array of services to high-risk

adolescents. Dennis is also a management consultant working with both nonprofit and

for-profit businesses, and he serves as an instructor at Portland State University

(Institute for Nonprofit Management) and Portland Community College (Alcohol and

Drug Counselor Education). He has provided training and workshops for over 25,000

people and hundreds of businesses/organizations ranging from small nonprofits to some

of the largest accounting firms in the world. His primary focus is on Values-Based

Management, a unique model for supervision and support of employees in the

nonprofit/public service sector, but he has also provided training in the areas of

organizational change, team building, staff conflict resolution, and race/gender issues in

the workplace. Dennis has been recognized by the University of Portland’s Pamplin

School of Business at their 75th Anniversary as one of the “Significant 75” graduates

from the Business School, by Portland State University for Outstanding Contributions

to the Division of Public Administration, and by Portland Monthly’s Light a Fire

Awards as the 2012 “Extraordinary Executive Director”. In 2013 he received the Natalie

S. Bimel Community Partner Award from the Annie E. Casey Foundation for his

leadership in Juvenile Detention Reform. As a working manager himself and a parent

of eight children, Dennis tends to focus on concrete strategies and techniques even for

complex organizational/human dynamics.

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Conflict 2015 Agenda

Welcome, Introductions, Overview

Definition and Characteristics of Conflict

The Conflict Process: Origin and Response

Diagnosis and Strategies

Skills for Work and Life

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Definition and Characteristics

Conflict is: That which happens naturally between two or more people who are

together 20 or more seconds.

Characteristics of Conflict:

1. Conflict “happens”

2. Conflict resolution does not “happen”

3. All conflicts are the same

4. All conflicts are not the same

5. Perceived risk in dealing with conflict is always greater than the actual risk

6. Perceived benefit in avoiding conflict is always better than the real outcome

7. Conflict at work has significant benefits

8. Unmanaged conflict at work has enormous costs

9. Can’t give/Don’t get

10. No 100% in any human relationship

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Definition: A highly structured psychotherapeutic method used

to alter distorted attitudes and problem behavior by

identifying and replacing negative inaccurate

thoughts and changing the rewards for behaviors

Model

Action

Thoughts

a

Beliefs

Core Response

Emotion

or

Feeling

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Conflict Cycle

TRIGGER Feeling

(Physiological Response)

Interpretation

Ouch/Hurt/Injury

Shame (I've done something bad)

You’re having a bad day

You must have had a traumatic

childhood

You’re off your meds

You intended to hurt me

(start of time travel)

Automatic Defense:

Push Away

Becomes second “Missile”

Sends parents into time travel

“Mud War”

Self Medicating

(Sooth the pain)

Drugs

Chocolate

Running

Healing

(self soothing) Biology is reset

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Diagnosis and Strategies

Issue Person

Responsible

Strategy Skills

1) Employee Performance Supervisor Meet/Train/Release Expectations

Listening

Feedback

2) Conflict with Supervisor Supervisor Listen/Consider/Respond

& (if necessary) Change

Listening

Questions

3) Team: Between Members Member or

Supervisor

Meet Alone

Meet with Facilitator

Team

Agreements

Structured

Process

4) Safety/Harassment/

Discrimination

Supervisor and

Management and

HR

*Meet

*Report

*Act

Respect

5) “Personality Conflict” Dr. Phil No such Thing Accurate

Diagnosis

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Communication & Respect

Speaker Listener Message

Response

Message Concept

Behavior Attending

Content You’re saying ___

Feeling You’re feeling ___

Source because ____

Me

Listening: The unnatural act of verbally demonstrating to another person that

she/he has been heard.

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THE SUPERVISORY LOOP

“Maximizing Employee Success”

Clear

Expectations

Training &

Resources

Coaching/Mentoring

Observe

Feedback

Coaching/Mentoring

Observe

Assess and

Plan

Value

&

Respect

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The Feedback Model and Process

Steps in Giving Feedback

See – Use eyes and ears to collect objective data

Think – Your assessment about intention of employee

Feel – Your level of response, support or concern

Say:

1. “When I saw you do …….” Or “I saw/heard……….”

2. “……..I assumed………” or “………I thought………”

3. “I felt…………………”

Feedback Process

1. Permission

2. Feedback

3. Replay/Confirm

4. Discuss

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Facilitated Interaction Process

1) Under stress, structure is your friend

2) Start with pre-meeting

Goal = mutual safety

Explain Purpose: Create Mutual Agreements

Explain Process: Each has a role

3) The Process:

Start with Mutual Permission

Feedback Giver Feedback Receiver

1) Give Feedback

Replay Feedback in own words

Behavior

Impact

Feeling

2) State Specifically

What would Make Better

Give Example to ensure understanding

3) Commit to let know how you’re

Doing

Commit to “Try”

4) Follow-up Check-in

Safety

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Values Based Management

Values Based Management is a system of management techniques built on the concept that the mission and objectives of

any organization can best be met when management uses skill-based supervision grounded in the values of the agency and

the needs of its employees. The workforce of today is increasingly diverse in many areas; race and culture, gender, age,

and physical abilities. This diversity brings differences in life experience, values, expectations and needs in the work

force. Dealing with these differences can be a challenge for supervisors and managers. Values Based Management

provides a way to meet that challenge that is flexible and respectful. Four basic courses are available, each modeled on

the same core concepts.

Values Based Management (VBM) Supervision is the “second most important job we’re ever given to do and not told how.” It involves assuming responsibility for the

lives of others and for the success of the organization. Values Based Management is a concrete approach to professionalizing

supervision in the nonprofit sector. It provides a framework which any agency can adopt to ensure that workers will feel supported as

well as a set of survival skills to prepare supervisors to function as professionals. Participants will come away with a clear definition

of supervision, a model for providing what workers need, a simple way to implement a “system of supervision”, and an answer to the

basic question of why workers do not perform successfully. Values Based Management has been presented to thousands of nonprofit

managers in hundreds of organizations across the country and continues to receive outstanding support because of its unique

tailoring to the needs of nonprofit workers and organizations.

Building a REAL Team “TEAM” is the management buzzword of the ‘90’s, but managers and supervisors rush headlong into trying to function as a team

without a framework to build on. This workshop provides a structural model for answering key questions regarding team functioning

that are applicable to any team such as: “Why are we using a team approach anyway?”, “What is this team going to do/why are we

here?”, “How do we make decisions, and what if we don’t agree?”, and “What is my role as a team leader (or team member)?”. This

course can be offered either in conjunction with VBM or independently, depending on the needs of your organization. The course is

valuable for anyone in your organization who is called on to work in a “team” setting. Any manager or director contemplating

movement to a more team-centered approach will find this a critical first step. Workshops are also available for use as team

“retreats” to create a new team, to re-energize an existing team, or to resolve difficult issues and personal conflicts, which are

blocking team functioning.

Managing Staff Conflict Conflict has become a “dirty word” for many teams. In many businesses staff conflict is often either ignored until a major problem

exists or is dealt with at such a personal level, that little else can be accomplished by the team. Our approach is that conflict is the

inevitable result of two or more people working together and that problems occur primarily when the “conflict” is avoided, hidden or

ignored. This course builds on the concepts of the team-building model and can be used either in conjunction with VBM or Team

Building or standing alone. The course provides the basic structure needed for effective team functioning and presents a simple

model for understanding the real dynamics of interpersonal conflict. Concrete tools and processes are provided to build team

agreements about direct professional communication; to develop effective conflict resolution processes, and to implement these

processes in a work setting.

Managing and Surviving Organizational Changes

Designed for employees, managers, and leaders of organizations facing conflict resulting from any type of internal

change. The focus is on understanding how real change happens for people and for organizations. Gain a clear definition

for organizational change vs. re-organizational non-change. Concrete strategies are presented to maximize the likelihood

of a successful change process, to survive in a rapidly changing organization, and to assess your own

personal/organizational style of response to change.

Contact: Dennis L. Morrow, MAEd, MBA, Executive Director phone: (503) 542-4607

Janus Youth Programs, Inc. e-mail: dmorrow@janusyouth.org

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